Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.6.2

rathitarasyaprajasya

bharyayam tantave 'rthitah

angira janayam asa

brahma-varcasvinah sutan

SYNONYMS

rathitarasya -- of Rathitara; aprajasya -- who had no sons; bharyayam -- unto his wife; tantave -- for increasing offspring; arthitah -- being requested; angirah -- the great sage Angira; janayam asa -- caused to take birth; brahma-varcasvinah -- who had brahminical qualities; sutan -- sons.

TRANSLATION

Rathitara had no sons, and therefore he requested the great sage Angira to beget sons for him. Because of this request, Angira begot sons in the womb of Rathitara's wife. All these sons were born with brahminical prowess.

PURPORT

In the Vedic age a man was sometimes called upon to beget sons in the womb of a lesser man's wife for the sake of better progeny. In such an instance, the woman is compared to an agricultural field. A person possessing an agricultural field may employ another person to produce food grains from it, but because the grains are produced from the land, they are considered the property of the owner of the land. Similarly, a woman was sometimes allowed to be impregnated by someone other than her husband, but the sons born of her would then become her husband's sons. Such sons were called kshetra jata. Because Rathitara had no sons, he took advantage of this method.

<<< >>>

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness